A Chart of the Density of Wood Species
I have included several familiar woods that probably will never be used in banjo making for the sake of comparison. I have also included domestic and exotic woods that could be or have been used for banjo making. The species in bold are ones I have used for making rims.
The following is a wood density chart compiled from several different sources. In the metric system "kg/cu.m" is kilograms per cubic meter. A cubic meter of water is 1,000 kg. Therefore woods that are less than 1,000 kg/cu.m will float whereas over 1,000 kg/cu.m wood will sink.
Species |
kg/cu.m |
Balsa | 170 |
Pine | 360 |
Red Cedar | 380 |
Poplar | 420 |
Willow | 420 |
Redwood | 450 |
Sitka Spruce | 450 |
Cherry | 510 |
Cypress | 510 |
Soft Maple | 540 |
Honduras Mahogany | 550 |
Walnut | 560 |
Sycamore | 590 |
Elm | 600 |
Beech | 640 |
African Mahogany | 650 |
Oak | 650 |
Ash | 670 |
Birch | 670 |
Hard Maple | 710 |
Padauk | 730 |
Purple Heart | 740 |
Teak | 750 |
Bolivian Rosewood | 760 |
East Indian Rosewood | 780 |
Brazillian Rosewood | 800 |
Ebony | 960 |
African Blackwood | 1100 |
Cocobolo | 1150 |
Lignum Vitae | 1280 |
Iron Wood | 1300 |